Talk That Science

An ollie is a fundamental trick in skateboarding. But have you ever wondered about the physics of an ollie, and what the ideal skateboard for performing one looks like? Delve into the world of sports engineering and the complexities of using science to enhance performance with Jan T. Heinen, a recent alumnus of the TU Delft, who has recently co-authored a paper on how to maximize the height of an ollie.

The tracks played during the episode:

1. Avril Lavigne, Sk8er Boi

2. Kato Kato, L'Evasion

3. Kraftwerk, The Man Machine

Big thanks to the Echobox Radio team for hosting us and helping out with everything!

Logic has a rich philosophical history for understanding the limits of our reasoning. But can it also be used for computational tasks? Nick Bezhanishvili is the President of the Dutch Association for Logic and Philosophy. His main field of research is the relationship between algebra and geometry. He recently researched the application of polyhedral semantics for 3D modeling.

The tracks played during the episode:

1. Some Kind of Game, by Against all Logic

2. The Logic Song, by Supertramp

3. Logic, by Logic System

Big thanks to the Echobox Radio team for hosting us and helping out with everything!

Join us for an enlightening episode featuring Marion Dugue, a geophysics master student and analogue astronaut. In this episode, Marion opens up about the unique challenges women face during scientific expeditions in survivalist conditions, particularly the pressing issue of the lack of menstrual products suitable for extreme environments, including space. Marion has confronted this issue head-on, pioneering a prototype for a menstrual product designed to function in zero gravity. This innovation isn't just about aiding women in their participation in scientific expeditions; it might also unlock valuable medical applications through the collection of menstrual blood during prolonged space missions.

In this episode, we'll explore Marion's research on menstrual blood in zero gravity and her role as an analogue astronaut. We'll also delve into the broader issue of gender imbalances in expeditions.

The tracks played during the episode:

1. Fly Me to the Moon, by Astrud Gilberto

2. Walking on the Moon, by Roseaux and Aloe Blacc

3. Space Girl, by Frances Forever

Big thanks to the Echobox Radio team for hosting us and helping out with everything!

Coral reefs are the only structures made by a single living organism (apart from humans) that you can see from space, and they are the most diverse and productive ecosystems out there. In this episode of Talk That Science, dr. René van der Zande and Sarah Solomon MSc explain how coral reefs are formed, how corals function and how they are affected by climate change.

The tracks played during the episode:

1. Andrean Sand Dunes, by Drexciya

2. Sea Swallow Me, by Cocteau Twins, Harold Budd

3. Seaweed, by Tindersticks

4. Diving, by Bombay Bicycling Club, Holly Humberstone

Cooperation is everywhere around us, at the heart of nature's most triumphant endeavors. It shows up in the cells that make up complex organisms, in ant colonies, and, of course, in the societies we live in. But it is also a bit of a mystery, because it involves being helpful at a personal cost. So how can individuals be motivated to look beyond their immediate self-interest and embrace the enduring advantages of collaboration? It turns out that game theory, a tool loved by economists, has much to say on this. Joining us for a discussion on the mechanisms underpinning cooperation is Fernando P. Santos, Assistant Professor at the University of Amsterdam. He guides us through the core concepts of game theory, shows why reputation is important, and gives insights into what to anticipate when engaging with artificial agents.

The tracks played during the episode:

1. Games, by Graham Nash, and David Crosby

2. Tomobiki, by John Zorn

3. All That We've Become, by Society

4. Verdes Anos, by Carlos Paredes

Big thanks to the Echobox Radio team for hosting us and helping out with everything!

The human vaginal microbiome is quite unique for its high level of acidity. This environment is maintained by a variety of bacteria, but a healthy vaginal microbiome is dominated by Lactobacillus Crispatus. Once other more harmful bacteria increase in number in the vaginal microbiome, the chances of bacterial vaginosis and urinary tract infections (UTIs) increase. In order to understand the favourable conditions for a microbiome populated mainly by Lactobacillus Crispatus, Rosanne investigates the behaviour of different vaginal bacteria in the lab. Besides, she is also one of the founders of the Crispatus foundation which uses citizen science to investigate the vaginal microbiome.

After writing columns for NRC for an extended period of time, Rosanne recently made the decision to go into politics as a candidate for the party NSC of Omtzigt. In the podcast we talk about being both a scientist and a public figure, how do they overlap and collide? And what is the meaning of scientific objectivity when combining the scientific and the political?

Tracklist:

1. Gonna get along without you now - Skeeter Davis

2. Disco Science - Ventolin

3. Straight Outta Vagina (feat. Desi Mo & Leikeli47) - Pussy Riot, Desi Mo, Leikeli47

Marcel Vélez Vásquez is a PhD candidate at the University of Amsterdam, specializing in explainable artificial intelligence for playability from musical audio. In this episode, he explains all about what AI for music is, and how it is different from textual AIs like ChatGPT. Artificial intelligence can be of help at many facets in the world of music: write and master songs, mix instruments together, but also predict whether an audio fragment could potentially grow out to be a smash hit, or help a beginner choose the next song to learn on their instrument. We also talk about the more challenging sides of his field, like using someone else's voice and the Western bias in available data.

Tracklist, can you guess which are easy or hard to play on the guitar?:

1. Stevie Wonder - Do I Do

2. Jimmy and David Ruffin - Stand By Me

3. X Ambassadors, Elle King, Wiz Khalifa - Not Easy

4. Can AI Kick It? - Abbus (with AI generated music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbsWkhcJjg4)

Particle physicist Flavia de Almeida Dias helps us understand the fundamental building blocks of the universe. Working from CERN in Switzerland and Nikhef in Amsterdam, she knows all about elementary particles and how to make them visible to humanity, that has been interested in this since the ancient Greek's four elements: water, fire, earth and air. What are the elements of today? And how can we find more of them? These questions and a lot more are discussed in this month's episode.

Tracklist

1. The Pointer Sisters - Neutron Dance

2. Kraftwerk - Radioactivity

3. Blood Orange - Hadron Collider

4. Hammer - Collision

When women have breast cancer, they sometimes have to undergo chemotherapy to lower the risk that the cancer will spread out from the breast. This is however not always necessary if the cancer is not so aggressive. Computer scientist Ajey Pai Karakala does research on how we can use deep learning to detect if the cancer is likely to spread through the body or not. We spoke to him about the strange beauty of cell tissue, supervised and unsupervised learning, and about how he thinks AI will augment the doctors’ capability to treat patients.

Tracklist:

1. Benjamin Zephaniah - Genetics

2. Bona Dish - Mutation

3. Maati Baani - Hiye Kaya Mein

Our guest, engineer and storyteller Vikas Bagde, moved from India to Amsterdam for his PhD. He immediately noticed differences in mobility, and especially in the way that people travel the 'last mile'. In this episode, he tells us about how the popularity of the bicycle rose in the Netherlands decades ago, and in which ways that is similar to the rise of the electric rickshaw that is happening right now in India. What role is, or should be, played by the people when tackling mobility challenges? And why is it that the technologically most efficient solution does not always work best? Find out in episode 25 of Talk That Science!

Tracklist:

1. Cymande - Rickshaw

2. Malarians - Rickshaw

3. Mungo's Hi Fi - Bike Rider

4. Slow Nomaden - Rickshaw

This podcast was broadcast by Echobox Radio on February 16th, 2023.